social justice movement terminology for interpreters and translators - because more bilingual movements are stronger movements!

Saturday, October 10, 2015

el negro redux

When I posted before about how to translate 'el negro' used as a nickname I said that blackie didn't seem like a great option, but I've noticed that they use it in the tv show Narcos and though the show is so problematic in general (see this great critique of it) in retrospect I think it might sometimes be ok to translate it that way. Yes, it's offensive, and sounds like 40s or 50s US English, but then, race relations in Colombia sometimes feel like they're in the 40s or 50s and I don't think it's the translator's job to hide or soften that.

subscribe in a reader

some of my best posts

decolonizing solidarity

My other bloglooks at colonial patterns in international solidarity and ways that we might change them, and talks about my research on international accompaniment and how it uses difference and privilege to make space for peace. The latest entries are listed below.